Crystal River Site
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Crystal River Indian Mounds
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Temple mound
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| Location | Crystal River, Florida |
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| Coordinates | 28°55′01″N 82°36′33″W / 28.91694°N 82.60917°WCoordinates: 28°55′01″N 82°36′33″W / 28.91694°N 82.60917°W |
| Area | 61 acres (250,000 m2) |
| Visitation | 21,000 |
| NRHP reference # | 70000178 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | September 29, 1970 |
| Designated NHL | June 21, 1990 |
Crystal River State Archaeological Site is a 61-acre (250,000 m2) Florida State Park located on the Crystal River and within the Crystal River Preserve State Park. The park is located two miles (3 km) northwest of the city of Crystal River, on Museum Point off US 19/98.
Under the title of Crystal River Indian Mounds, it is also a U.S. National Historic Landmark (designated as such on September 29, 1970).
The park contains a six-mound complex, occupied from the Deptford period through Santa Rosa-Swift Creek culture and up to the Late Fort Walton period. This timespan makes it one of the longest continually occupied sites in Florida, believed to have been occupied for 1,600 years. Native Americans traveled long distances to the complex to bury their dead and to engage in trading activities. An estimated 7,500 people may have visited the complex annually when it was occupied. The complex contains burial mounds, temple/platform mounds, a plaza area, and a midden. The earliest burials at the site are believed to be located in the conical mound and date back to about 250 BC. Many of the people buried in this mound had copper tools and ornaments buried with them. The copper artifacts came from the Ohio River area through a trade network developed by the Hopewell culture that existed at the time. There seemed to be indirect trading between the people who lived here and the Hopewell culture. People that were buried later did not have this type of artifacts buried with them and some burials do not contain artifacts. This tells us that over the 2,000 years that ancient people used the site, burial practices and ceremonies changed. It also tells us that trading with the northern portions of North America changed. The shell and sand ring also contains burials some of which were placed between layers of shells while others were not. It is not clear why this occurred or whether it was related to status or just a change in the burial customs. The platform was constructed as burials filled in the gap between the ring and the cone. It is estimated that about 1,200 to 1,500 people are buried in this complex.
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